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Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey: Challenges, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities (2015)

Chapter: Appendix A: Usability Analysis: Tract-Level 2008-2012 ACS Data

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Usability Analysis: Tract-Level 2008-2012 ACS Data." National Research Council. 2015. Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey: Challenges, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21653.
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Appendix A

Usability Analysis: Tract-Level 2008-2012 ACS Data

This appendix presents an expanded version of Table 2-2 (in Chapter 2), providing a detailed overview of the precision and usability of five key American Community Survey variables: (1) persons living in poverty, (2) occupied housing units that are renter occupied, (3) households receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the past 12 months, (4) persons who are foreign born, and (5) the population aged 25 and older with a graduate or professional degree.

Page 122 Cite
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Usability Analysis: Tract-Level 2008-2012 ACS Data." National Research Council. 2015. Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey: Challenges, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21653.
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TABLE A-1 Usability Analysis: Tract-Level 2008-2012 ACS Data (in percentage)

Characteristics Percentage of Persons Living in Povertya Percentage of Occupied Housing Units That Are Renter Occupiedb Percentage of Households Receiving SNAP Benefits in Past 12 Monthsc Percentage of Persons Who Are Foreign Born Percentage of Population Aged 25+ with a Graduate or Professional Degreed
National Estimate 14.9 34.5 11.4 12.9 10.6
National Margin of Error ±0.1 ±0.2 ±0.1 ±0.1 ±0.1
All Tractse

Tract range

 0-100 0-100 0-100 0-100 0-100

Tract mean

 16.0 35.2 12.5 12.2 10.3

Tract median

 12.6 29.8 9.2 6.9 7.2

Tract median CV

 28.3 14.7 29.5 29.7 26.0

Tract median MoE

 5.8 6.7 4.6 3.4 3.2

CV ≤ 30%

 56 88 51 50 61

CV > 30 and ≤ 50%

 35 9 29 29 27

CV > 50%

 9 2 20 21 12

Confidence interval ≥ 10 percentage points

 59 80 45 30 17

MoE > estimate

 4 1 16 15 8

Confidence interval lower bound < 0

 4 1 16 15 8

Confidence interval upper bound > 100

 0.17 (125 tracts) 1.4 (1034 tracts) 0.1 (89 tracts) 0.05 (37 tracts) 0.1 (64 tracts)
Page 123 Cite
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Usability Analysis: Tract-Level 2008-2012 ACS Data." National Research Council. 2015. Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey: Challenges, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21653.
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Excluding Tracts Where CV = 0 Percentage of Persons Living in Povertyf Percentage of Occupied Housing Units That Are Renter Occupiedg Percentage of Households Receiving SNAP Benefits in Past 12 Monthsh Percentage of Persons Who Are Foreign Borni Percentage of Population Aged 25+ with a Graduate or Professional Degreej
Tract range 0.02-96.3 0.14-99.8 0.04-94.2 0.02-95.0 0.02-97.4

Tract mean

 16.0 34.9 12.9 12.5 10.4

Tract median

 12.6 29.7 9.7 7.2 7.3

Tract median CV

 28.4 14.8 30.3 30.4 26.2

Tract median MoE

 5.8 6.7 4.8 3.5 3.2

CV ≤ 30%

 55 88 49 49 60

CV > 30 and ≤ 50%

 35 9 30 30 27

CV > 50%

 9 2 20 21 13

Confidence interval ≥ 10 percentage points

 59 80 46 31 17

MoE > estimate

 4 1 13 13 7

Confidence interval lower bound < 0

 4 1 13 13 7

Confidence interval upper bound > 100

 0.11 (78 tracts) 0.8 (541 tracts) 0.01 (10 tracts) 0.02 (11 tracts) .03 (19 tracts)
Page 124 Cite
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Usability Analysis: Tract-Level 2008-2012 ACS Data." National Research Council. 2015. Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey: Challenges, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21653.
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Characteristics Percentage of Persons Living in Povertya Percentage of Occupied Housing Units That Are Renter Occupiedb Percentage of Households Receiving SNAP Benefits in Past 12 Monthsc Percentage of Persons Who Are Foreign Born Percentage of Population Aged 25+ with a Graduate or Professional Degreed
Confidence Interval Width ≥ 10 Percentage Points by CV Category, Excluding Tracts Where CV = 0                    

CV ≤ 30%

 73 84 69 48 24

CV > 30 and ≤ 50%

 46 58 33 19 9

CV > 50%

 30 32 11 8 6
Median CVs by Tract Total Population Size  

All Tracts
< 1,000 31.3 18.7 27.2 43.6 37.6
1,000-2,999 29.0 16.0 29.6 38.6 31.4
3,000-4,999 28.1 14.3 29.3 29.6 25.9
5,000-6,999 28.2 14.1 29.8 25.2 23.5
7,000+ 27.8 14.4 29.5 20.7 20.8

Excluding Tracts Where CV = 0

  < 1,000

 37.2 24.6 40.7 54.7 49.4
Page 125 Cite
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Usability Analysis: Tract-Level 2008-2012 ACS Data." National Research Council. 2015. Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey: Challenges, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21653.
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1,000-2,999

 29.1 16.2 30.6 40.2 31.9

3,000-4,999

 28.1 14.4 30.0 30.1 26.0

5,000-6,999

 28.2 14.1 30.4 25.3 23.6

7,000+

 27.8 14.4 29.9 20.8 20.8
Median CV by Tract Number of Housing Units

All Tracts

≤ 400

 32.6 12.0 23.7 29.8 42.9

401-1,000

 31.6 18.0 31.8 34.1 35.5

1,001-2,000

 28.4 14.9 29.2 30.9 27.4

2,001-4,000

 27.4 13.6 29.1 28.1 22.7

4,001-6,000

 27.2 13.4 31.8 20.8 17.0

6,001+

 26.4 13.7 40.4 16.0 14.2

Excluding Tracts Where CV = 0

≤ 400

 48.6 28.9 63.1 35.6 58.5

401-1,000

 31.7 18.3 33.2 36.2 36.5

1,001-2,000

 28.4 15.0 29.9 31.5 27.5

2,001-4,000

 27.4 13.6 29.6 28.3 22.7

4,001-6,000

 27.2 13.4 32.4 20.8 17.0

6,001+

 26.4 13.7 40.7 16.0 14.2
Page 126 Cite
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Usability Analysis: Tract-Level 2008-2012 ACS Data." National Research Council. 2015. Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey: Challenges, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21653.
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Characteristics Percentage of Persons Living in Povertya Percentage of Occupied Housing Units That Are Renter Occupiedb Percentage of Households Receiving SNAP Benefits in Past 12 Monthsc Percentage of Persons Who Are Foreign Born Percentage of Population Aged 25+ with a Graduate or Professional Degreed
Confidence Interval ≥ 10 Percentage Points by Tract Population Size, Excluding Tracts Where CV = 0

< 1,000

 83 93 79 58 61

1,000-2,999

 68 86 60 34 28

3,000-4,999

 59 80 46 32 16

5,000-6,999

 54 77 38 28 11

7,000+

 46 67 29 23 6
Confidence Interval ≥ 10 Percentage Points by Tract Number of Housing Units, Excluding Tracts Where CV = 0

≤ 400

 88 95 85 45 56

401-1,000

 72 88 66 43 30

1,001-2,000

 61 81 49 32 17

2,001-4,000

 53 77 36 25 13
Page 127 Cite
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Usability Analysis: Tract-Level 2008-2012 ACS Data." National Research Council. 2015. Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey: Challenges, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21653.
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4,001-6,000

 38 63 16 17 14

6,001+

 25 54 10 15 16
MoE > Estimate by Tract Population Size, Excluding Tracts Where CV = 0

< 1,000

 25 14 34 43 39

1,000-2,999

 6 2 14 22 13

3,000-4,999

 4 1 12 11 6

5,000-6,999

 3 0.5 12 7 3

7,000+

 2 0.4 10 3 2
MoE > Estimate by Tract Number of Housing Units, Excluding Tracts Where CV = 0

≤ 400

 36 20 52 22 47

401-1,000

 9 3 17 22 19

1,001-2,000

 4 1 13 14 7

2,001-4,000

 2 0.3 11 8 2

4,001-6,000

 1 0 12 1 0.2
Page 128 Cite
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Usability Analysis: Tract-Level 2008-2012 ACS Data." National Research Council. 2015. Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey: Challenges, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21653.
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Characteristics Percentage of Persons Living in Povertya Percentage of Occupied Housing Units That Are Renter Occupiedb Percentage of Households Receiving SNAP Benefits in Past 12 Monthsc Percentage of Persons Who Are Foreign Born Percentage of Population Aged 25+ with a Graduate or Professional Degreed
6,001+ 1 0 13 2 0

 

aTracts with no persons in the universe for which poverty rates are calculated were excluded from this analysis.

bTracts with no households were excluded from this analysis.

cSNAP is Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; tracts with no households were excluded from this analysis.

dTracts with no persons aged 25 and older were excluded from this analysis.

eTracts with zero population are excluded.

fThere are 265 tracts excluded because the estimated poverty rate equals zero. When the poverty rate is zero, the CV cannot be calculated and is set to zero.

gThere are 596 tracts excluded because either the standard error of the percentage of renter-occupied households equals zero or the percentage of renter-occupied households equals zero. When the percentage renter occupied is zero, the CV cannot be calculated and is set to zero.

hThere are 2,754 tracts excluded because either the standard error of the percentage with SNAP benefits equals zero or the percentage with SNAP benefits equals zero. When the percentage with SNAP benefits is zero, the CV cannot be calculated and is set to zero.

iThere are 1,806 tracts excluded because either the standard error of the percentage of the foreign-born population equals zero or the percentage of the foreign–born population equals zero. When the percentage population is zero, the CV cannot be calculated and is set to zero.

jThere are 940 tracts excluded because either the standard error of the percentage of persons with a professional degree equals zero or the percentage of persons with a professional degree equals zero. When the percentage with a professional degree is zero, the CV cannot be calculated and is set to zero.

NOTE: MoE is margin of error; CV is coefficient of variation.

SOURCE: Panel analysis of data from the 2008-2012 ACS Summary File, available at http://www.census.gov/acs/www/data_documentation/summary_file/ [September 2014].

Page 121 Cite
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Usability Analysis: Tract-Level 2008-2012 ACS Data." National Research Council. 2015. Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey: Challenges, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21653.
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Page 122 Cite
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Usability Analysis: Tract-Level 2008-2012 ACS Data." National Research Council. 2015. Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey: Challenges, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21653.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Usability Analysis: Tract-Level 2008-2012 ACS Data." National Research Council. 2015. Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey: Challenges, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21653.
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Page 124 Cite
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Usability Analysis: Tract-Level 2008-2012 ACS Data." National Research Council. 2015. Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey: Challenges, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21653.
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Page 125 Cite
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Usability Analysis: Tract-Level 2008-2012 ACS Data." National Research Council. 2015. Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey: Challenges, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21653.
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Page 126 Cite
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Usability Analysis: Tract-Level 2008-2012 ACS Data." National Research Council. 2015. Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey: Challenges, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21653.
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Page 127 Cite
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Usability Analysis: Tract-Level 2008-2012 ACS Data." National Research Council. 2015. Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey: Challenges, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21653.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Usability Analysis: Tract-Level 2008-2012 ACS Data." National Research Council. 2015. Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey: Challenges, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21653.
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The American Community Survey (ACS) was conceptualized as a replacement to the census long form, which collected detailed population and housing data from a sample of the U.S. population, once a decade, as part of the decennial census operations. The long form was traditionally the main source of socio-economic information for areas below the national level. The data provided for small areas, such as counties, municipalities, and neighborhoods is what made the long form unique, and what makes the ACS unique today. Since the successful transition from the decennial long form in 2005, the ACS has become an invaluable resource for many stakeholders, particularly for meeting national and state level data needs. However, due to inadequate sample sizes, a major challenge for the survey is producing reliable estimates for smaller geographic areas, which is a concern because of the unique role fulfilled by the long form, and now the ACS, of providing data with a geographic granularity that no other federal survey could provide. In addition to the primary challenge associated with the reliability of the estimates, this is also a good time to assess other aspects of the survey in order to identify opportunities for refinement based on the experience of the first few years.

Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey provides input on ways of improving the ACS, focusing on two priority areas: identifying methods that could improve the quality of the data available for small areas, and suggesting changes that would increase the survey's efficiency in responding to new data needs. This report considers changes that the ACS office should consider over the course of the next few years in order to further improve the ACS data. The recommendations of Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey will help the Census Bureau improve performance in several areas, which may ultimately lead to improved data products as the survey enters its next decade.

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